Question 1

Why use det går att instead of just saying det är möjligt att?

Accepted Answer

While det är möjligt att is grammatically correct, det går att (literally 'it goes to') is the much more natural and idiomatic way to say 'it is possible to' or 'one can' in Swedish. It is extremely common in both spoken and written Swedish for expressing practical possibilities.

Question 2

The English translation uses an '-ing' word ('without destroying'). Why does Swedish use utan att förstöra?

Accepted Answer

In English, prepositions are often followed by a gerund (an '-ing' verb). Swedish does not use its '-ande/-ende' participle forms this way. Instead, whenever a preposition like utan (without) is followed by an action, you must use att plus the infinitive form of the verb.

Question 3

Why are ekonomin and resurserna in the definite form ('the economy', 'the resources')?

Accepted Answer

Swedish frequently uses the definite form for abstract nouns and general categories where English would leave them indefinite. Even when talking about 'resources' as a broad, general concept, Swedish naturally defaults to the definite resurserna.

Question 4

How does this sentence express a contrast without using correlative phrases like å ena sidan ... å andra sidan ...?

Accepted Answer

This sentence expresses a direct, balanced contrast by pitting a positive goal (att gynna ekonomin) against a potential negative consequence (att förstöra resurserna) using the preposition utan. It is a concise way to weigh two competing ideas within a single continuous thought.

Det går att gynna ekonomin utan att förstöra resurserna.

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